Reel loader for paper machines or the like

ABSTRACT

A reel loader for use with a paper machine or the like is adapted to receive and support a plurality of empty horizontally disposed reels and to load successive ones thereof into a selfthreading reel-winding apparatus in properly timed relation to the operation thereof.

. I United States Patent Inventors LeRoy F. Gilbank Beloit, Wis.;

Raymond J. Tangye, Roscoe, 111. 797,138

Feb. 6, 1969 June 22, 1971 Beloit Corporation Beloit, Wis.

Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee REEL LOADER FOR PAPER MACHINES OR THELIKE 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 242/65, 242/551 Int. Cl B65h 17/06, B65h 19/06 Field of Search242/55. 1, 56.9, 55, 64, 65, 67.1, 67.3

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,239,155 3/1966 Kinoshita242/551 3,254,853 6/1966 242/551 3,380,685 4/ 1968 242/65 3,459,3868/1969 242/551 3,494,566 2/1970 Pawelczyk 242/65 X PrimaryExaminerGeorge F. Mautz Att0rneysDirk .l. Veneman, John S. Munday andGerald A.

. Mathews ABSTRACT: A reel loader for use with a paper machine or thelike is adapted to receive and support a plurality of empty horizontallydisposed reels and to load successive ones thereof into a self-threadingreel-winding apparatus in properly timed relation to the operationthereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention relates to web-winding equipment of the type employed inproducing paper and more particularly to a reel loader adapted toreceive and support a plurality of empty horizontally disposed reels andto load successive ones thereof into a self-threading reel-windingapparatus in properly timed relation to the operation thereof.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art In the type of reel-windingapparatus with which the reel loader of the present invention is adaptedto cooperate, an elongate winding reel on which a roll of paper or thelike is being wound is supported by a pair of support rails and is urgedtoward a rotating drive roll by a pair of pressure arms engaging the endhubs of the reel, thereby pressing the periphery of the constantlyenlarging roll into driving contact with the drive roll. As such windingis going on, a bridge crane or similar lifting device is used to load asimilar empty reel into supported engagement with a pair of transferarms which position its end hubs along stationary cam surfaces so thatthe reel is adjacent and parallel to the drive roll but slightly out ofcontact therewith. As the paper roll approaches its maximum diameter,the transfer arms move the empty reel along the aforementioned camsurfaces to a position at which that reel engages the periphery of thedrive roll and is thereby rotated at substantially the same peripheralspeed as that of the drive roll. When the empty reel has been brought upto speed, movement of the pressure arms causes the wound roll to moveslightly away from th'edrive roll. As soon as the driving contactbetween the drive roll and the wound paper roll is thus interrupted, thelatter starts to slow down and therefore produces a free loop of paperbetween the wound roll and the rotating empty reel. Air jets or otherappropriate guide means direct this free loop against the rotating emptyreel so that it is wrapped around that reel and is snubbed thereto bysuccessive paper convolutions. Since the peripheral speed of the webbeing wound onto the empty spool exceeds that of the fully wound roll,the loop between the fully wound roll and the substantially empty rollis torn to thereby separate the wound roll from the incoming paper web.

With the winding of the empty reel thus initiated, the pressure armstransfer the fully wound reel along the support rails to a temporarystorage position and then return to engage the relatively empty reel asthe transfer arms move it into the position previously occupied by thepreceeding reel. The transfer arms then disengage that reel and returnto their former loading positions so that they can receive the nextempty reel to complete the operating cycle. This type of reel-windingapparatus is well known and is often referred to as a "Pope winder. Thebasic mechanism for effecting the various operations described above isdisclosed in the original Pope US. Pat. No. 1,248,542. More modernversions of similar machines are the subject of a number of later US.patents, for example, US Pat. No. 3,380,685, which is assigned to theassignee of the present invention.

Since considerable time is required to complete the winding of the paperroll after it has been moved into its winding position on the supportrails, an operator servicing a single machine generally has ampleopportunity to replace empty reels, even through such reels are handledindividually by an appropriate crane or the like. However,notwithstanding the fact that the time actually required to install anew reel may be considerably less than the time available for performingthat operation, it may nevertheless be impractical or impossible for asingle crane to supply individual reels to more than one machine due tocircumstances such as the fact that such machines may occasionallyrequire empty reels simultaneously, e.g., during machine startup or inthe event of web breakage. Accordingly, for practical purposes a singlecrane and operator must be provided for each machine, or, at best, foreach two machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the presentinvention, areel-winding apparatus of the type described above is provided with areel loader comprising a pair of horizontal loading bars adapted tosupport a plurality of empty horizontally disposed winding reels abovethe winding apparatus, per se. A pair of loading arms are located abovethe drive roll adjacent the corresponding ends of the loading railsand.are pivotal about anaxis parallel to that of the drive roll. As theloading arms move upwardly, they contact the respective hubs of the reellocated against abutment members at the corresponding ends of thesupport rails and lift that reel over the abutment members to a positionat which it rolls along the loading arms past those members. Thesubsequent downward movement of the loading anns then carries the reelpast the loading rails and delivers it into engagement with the transferarms at the position at which it is supported out of driving contactwith the drive roll by the previously described cam surfaces. Theloading arms then remain in this position until the transfer arms havemoved the empty reel into its final winding location on the supportrails, whereupon the loading arms are pivoted upwardly in unison totheir former raised positions. In the meantime, a reel-feeding devicehas moved all of the empty reels on the loading rails toward the endthereof adjacent the transfer arms so that the endmost reel in contactwith the abutment members can be engaged and lifted past those membersby the upwardly moving loading arms. When this has been accomplished,the loading arms carrying that reel remain temporarily in raisedposition until the roll being wound approaches its maximum diameter,whereupon the loading arms load the empty reel onto the stationary camsurfaces and into engagement with the transfer arms toinitiate the nextthreading cycle. 1

Various means for practicing the invention and other advantages andnovel features thereofwill be apparent from the following detaileddescription of an illustrative preferred embodiment of the invention,reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which likereference numerals refer to like elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the Accompanying Drawings:

FIG. I is a side elevational view of a self-threading reelwindingapparatus provided with a reel loader in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the structure depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 corresponds to an enlarged portion of FIG. 2 and illustrates theconstruction of the end hubs of the winding reels accommodated by thesubject apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a somewhat schematic fragmentary cross-sectional view takenalong line 4-4 of FIG. 2, showing the relative positions of variousoperative elements of the structure depicted in FIGS. land 2; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first toFIGS. 1, 2, and 4 of the accompanying drawings, the illustratedreel-winding apparatus, per se, will be seen to comprise a pair ofgenerally horizontal parallel support rails 11 carried by pedestals l2and terminating adjacent drive roll 13. The drive roll is rotatablesupported between vertical support plates 14 and is rotated in acounterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 by appropriate drivemeans,.not shown. The two transfer arms 15 are pivotally supportedinwardly of the corresponding vertical support plates 14 on the centralshaft 16 of the drive roll. Gear sectors 17 are provided on the transferarms and are meshed with pinions 18 carried by a rotatable cross shaft19. Accordingly, rotation of cross shaft 19 by a high-torque drive motorunit 20 causes the two transfer arms to rock in unison about the axis ofthe drive roll, as described below.

When the two transfer arms are located in loading position, as shown insolid lines in FIGS. I and 4, an empty reel 21 positioned with the outerflanges 22 of its end hubs 23 atop stationary cam surfaces 24 of supportplates 14 tends to roll along the cam surfaces so that the annulargrooves 25 of the reel hubs are in contact with edge surfaces 26 of thetransfer arms. Hook members 27 are slidably mounted to the transfer armsand are movable by air cylinders 28, as best illustrated in FIG. 4.During the operation of loading the empty reel onto the cam surfaces ofthe support plates, the hook members are located as shown in solid linesin FIGS. I and 4, thereby permitting the empty reel to be movedlaterally into position below those hook members. Thereafter, cylinders28 move the hook members downwardly as shown in broken lines in FIGS. 1and 4, thus preventing the reel from moving away from the edge surfaces26 of the transfer arms.

A roll in the process of being wound is depicted at numeral 29 in FIGS.I and 2. The annular grooves in the hubs of the central reel of thisroll rest along the tops of support rails II, thereby supporting the webroll so that it can rotate upon overcoming the frictional resistancebetween the support rails and the reel hubs. Pressure arms 31 arepivotally supported outwardly of the support rails and are provided withrollers 32 which engage the outermost cylindrical end portions 33 of thereel hubs. Air cylinders 34 urge the pressure arms toward the driveroll, whereby the periphery of the roll 29 is held in driving contactwith the drive roll under a predetennined force established by thepressure within the air cylinders. Accordingly, the web of paper 35entering the winding apparatus below idler roll 36 passes over the driveroll and into the nip between that roll and the web roll 29 as thelatter roll constantly increases in diameter.

As roll 29 approaches its maximum diameter, an automaticdiameter-sensing device, not shown, actuates drive motor 20 to cause thetransfer arms to move in unison in a counterclockwise direction so thatthe empty reel is moved to the position shown in broken lines at 210 inFIG. 1. Due to the profile of cam surfaces 24, movement of the emptyreel to this position brings its outer periphery 37 into contact withthe web wrapped over the upper surface of the drive roll, thus causingthe empty reel to be accelerated in a clockwise direction while it isstill engaged by the hook members of the transfer arms. When the emptyreel has achieved a peripheral speed equal to that of the web, pressurearms 31 are rocked in a counterclockwise direction by air cylinders 34so that rollers 38 engage the outer cylindrical end portions 33 of thereel at the center of roll 29 and move that roll slightly out of drivingcontact with the drive roll. As soon as the driving engagement betweenthe roll 29 and the drive roll is thus discontinued, the friction of thereel hubs on the support rails causes that roll to slow down, thusproducing an upwardly expanding loop of paper between the roll 29 andthe revolving empty reel. This loop is guided toward the empty reel byairjets emitted from a nozzle pipe 39 or the equivalent so that the loopencircles the empty reel and starts to wind thereon. Upon commencementof such winding, the resulting tension in the web between roll 29 andthe substantially empty revolving reel tears the web so that the windingoperation is transferred completely to the newly threaded reel. Thepressure arms are then moved still further in a counterclockwisedirection to move the wound roll to a braking station indicatedgenerally by numeral 40, where it temporarily remains until it comes torest. Beyond the braking station, support rails 11 slope downwardly sothat when the roll is released from that station it rolls slowly to aweighing station 41 and then to subsequent storage stations, not shown.

As soon as the wound roll has moved beyond the pressure arms, those armsare returned by air cylinders 34 to locate rollers 32 adjacent the driveroll, whereupon the transfer arms rock further in a counterclockwisedirection to lower the newly threaded reel onto support rails 11 andinto engagement with those rollers. The hook members 27 of the transferarms then are moved out of engagement with the reel hubs by cylinders 28and the transfer arms and are returned to raised positions as shown insolid lines in FIGS. 1 and 4 so that they can receive another empty reelto complete the machine cycle.

The various operations of the machine are controlled automatically by anelectrical control unit depicted generally at numeral 42 in FIG. I. Thiscontrol unit includes various timers, relays, etc. adapted to respond tosensing devices such as switches 43, shown in FIG. 4, which are operatedby actuating plates 44 on the illustrated gear sector 17 according tothe angular position of the loading arms. Since the design ofappropriate conventional control unit circuitry for producing therequired coordinated operations of the winding apparatus and the subjectreel loader is within the province of those skilled in the electricalcontrol art, specific details thereof are not deemed necessary to anunderstanding of the present invention.

The reel loader of the present invention, per se, comprises a pair ofparallel horizontal loading bars 45 which are supported by columns 46straddling reel support rails 12. As best depicted in FIG. 5, thesupport bars are of channellike crosssectional configuration and includeelongate slots 47 running along the upper edges thereof. Near thecantilevered ends of the support bars adjacent the drive roll andtransfer arms, a sprocket 48 is rotatably supported within each bar bymeans of a rotatable cross-shaft 49, as illustrated in FIG. 4. At theopposite ends of the support bars, similar sprockets 51 are likewisesupported by a cross-shaft 52 which is adapted to be reversibly rotatedby a drive motor unit shown at 53 in FIG. 1. An endless roller chain 54encircles the two sprockets in each support bar and is connected to thebottom edge of a reelfeeding member 55 extending upwardly through slot47 and supported by rollers 56. Accordingly, reel-feeding members 55 canbe moved along the support bars in unison in either direction by meansof motor unit 53.

A sloped guide plate 57 is mounted between the two support bars adjacentcross shaft 52 by mounting brackets 58 and projects beyond the transfermembers when the latter are in their retracted positions as depicted insolid lines in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4. Adjacent the opposite cantileveredends of the support bars, the top reel-supporting surfaces thereof slopeslightly downwardly toward rigid abutment members 59 extending abovethose surfaces. As shown in FIG. I, an empty reel 21 is carried to thereel loader by crane hooks 61 and is lowered onto the support bars incontact with guide plate 57, which maintains the reel in right anglerelation to the machine as its annular hub grooves are aligned withthose bars. Thereafter, motor 53 moves the reel-feeding members insynchronism out of their retracted positions, thereby sliding the reelalong the support bars. A torque-responsive motor-reversing switch, notshown, reverses the direction of rotation of motor unit 53 when the lastreel is in abutment with the other mutually abutting reels, i.e. whenthe reel-feeding members are located as shown in broken lines in FIG. 1,thereby returning the reel feeding members to their respective retractedpositions. Due to the slight downward slope of the support bars adjacentabutment members 59, the annular hub grooves of the endmost reel alongthe support bars remain in constant contact with the abutment memberseven if the other reels should roll slightly out of intimate contactwith each other.

Loading arms 62 are supported in parallel relation to one another by across-shaft 63 journaled to support columns 64. The loading arms areprovided with gear sectors 65, similar to those on the transfer arms;such sectors being meshed with pinions 66 on a rotatable cross-shaft 67,which is likewise journaled to columns 64. The cross-shaft, in turn, isadapted to be driven by a reversible high-torque motor unit 68, wherebythe loading arms are movable in unison between their raised positionsinwardly adjacent the cantilevered ends of the corresponding supportbars and their lowered positions inwardly adjacent the correspondingtransfer arms. Switches 69, shown in FIG. 4, are actuated by contactplates 71 on the illustrated gear sector 65 and thereby regulate motor68 by means of the previously mentioned control unit to establishpredetermined angular positions of the loading arms.

As the loading arms move upwardly past the abutment members at thecorresponding ends of the support bars, the inner shank portions 72 ofthe hubs of the endmost reel are engaged by notches 73 of the loadingarms, which thereby lift that reel upwardly beyond the abutment members.When the loading arms are in their extreme uppermost positions, as shownin solid lines in FIG. 4, surfaces 74 of notches 73 are sloped slightlydownwardly toward support columns 64. Therefore, the supported reelrolls beyond the abutment members as shown in solid lines in FIG. 4,where it remains until the loading arms subsequently move downwardly.

In response to the previously described movement of the transfer arms totheir loading position illustrated in solid lines in FIGS. 1 and 4, thecontrol unit causes drive motor unit 68 to move the loading armsdownwardly between the transfer arms to the location shown in brokenlines, whereby the empty reel is deposited on cam surfaces 24 and isthereafter engaged by the transfer arm hook members 27. The loading armsthen remain in this downward position until the reel has been threadedand deposited on the support rails by the transfer arms. During thistime, the next reel is moved to the end of the loading bars by thepreviously described transfer members. As soon as the transfer arms havedeposited the reel on the support rails, drive motor 68 again raises theloading arms so that they move the next reel off the support bars andpast the abutment members thereof, thereby completing the operatingcycle. 3

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference toa preferred embodiment thereof, but it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scopeof the invention as described herein and before as defined in theappended claims.

We claim:

l. A reel loader for storing a plurality of elongate winding reels andloading successive ones thereof into a winding apparatus including amovable reel transfer device adapted to receive a reel at a loadinglocation and to transfer that reel to a winding location at which it isreleased by said transfer device, said reel loader comprising;

a. a pair of similar generally horizontal parallel bars positioned abovesaid transfer device, said bars being adapted to engage respective endhubs of said reels to support the latter therebetween in transverserelation thereto and in parallel relation to a reel so received by saidtransfer device,

b. a pair of abutment members carried by and projecting upwardly beyondthe respective ends of said bars in alignment with each othertransversely of said pair of bars,

c. reel-feeding means for laterally moving a plurality of such reels sosupported by said bars along said bars into mutually abutting relationwith each other with the hubs of 6 the endmost one thereof in lateralabutment with said abutment members, and

d. a movable reel-loading device adapted to lift and move said endmostone of said reels off said bars and beyond said abutment members andthen to lower that reel into reception by said reel transfer devicewhile the latter is positioned at said loading location.

2. A reel loader according to claim 1 in which said reelloading devicecomprises a pair of aligned substantially similar loading arms pivotallysupported toward one end for simultaneous arcuate movement about ahorizontal pivot axis parallel to said endmost reel.

3. A reel loader according to claim 2 including reversiblepower-operated drive means for selectively moving said loading armsarcuately about said pivot axis in upward and downward directions, saidloading arms being provided toward the ends thereof opposite said pivotaxis with notch surfaces adapted to engage the corresponding hubs ofsaid endmost reel during upward movement of said arms to lift that reeloff said bars and displace it laterally beyond said abutment members andthen to carry said reel downwardly by its hubs into reception by saidtransfer device at said loading location durin subsequent downwardmovement of said arms.

4. A reel oader according to claim 3 mcludmg electrical switch means foractuating said power-operated drive means to establish predeterminedp0sitions to. which said loading arms are moved by said drive means.

5. A reel loader according to claim 3 including electrical control meansfor operating said drive means to move said loading arms to saidpredetermined positions thereof in timed relation with movement of saidmovable reel transfer device.

6. A reel loader according to claim 3 in which said notch surfaces havea downwardly inclined slope when said loading arms are moved upwardly toa position at which said notch surfaces are above said bars, whereby areel supported by the engagement of its hubs with said notch surfaces inthat position will roll past said abutment members.

7. A reel loader according to claim 1 wherein said reel-feeding meanscomprises a pair of reel-shifting members movable respectively alongcorresponding ones of said bars in alignment with one anothertransversely of said bars.

8. A reel loader according to claim 7 in which said bars are of hollowchannellike cross section provided respectively with elongate slotsextending along the upper reel hub-supporting surfaces thereof andadapted to receive downwardly projecting portions of the correspondingreel-shifting members.

9. A reel loader according to claim 8 including poweroperated drivemeans located within said hollow bars and connected to the downwardlyprojecting portions of the corresponding reel-shifting members to effectsuch movement of those members along said bars.

1. A reel loader for storing a plurality of elongate winding reels and loading successive ones thereof into a winding apparatus including a movable reel transfer device adapted to receive a reel at a loading location and to transfer that reel to a winding location at which it is relEased by said transfer device, said reel loader comprising; a. a pair of similar generally horizontal parallel bars positioned above said transfer device, said bars being adapted to engage respective end hubs of said reels to support the latter therebetween in transverse relation thereto and in parallel relation to a reel so received by said transfer device, b. a pair of abutment members carried by and projecting upwardly beyond the respective ends of said bars in alignment with each other transversely of said pair of bars, c. reel-feeding means for laterally moving a plurality of such reels so supported by said bars along said bars into mutually abutting relation with each other with the hubs of the endmost one thereof in lateral abutment with said abutment members, and d. a movable reel-loading device adapted to lift and move said endmost one of said reels off said bars and beyond said abutment members and then to lower that reel into reception by said reel transfer device while the latter is positioned at said loading location.
 2. A reel loader according to claim 1 in which said reel-loading device comprises a pair of aligned substantially similar loading arms pivotally supported toward one end for simultaneous arcuate movement about a horizontal pivot axis parallel to said endmost reel.
 3. A reel loader according to claim 2 including reversible power-operated drive means for selectively moving said loading arms arcuately about said pivot axis in upward and downward directions, said loading arms being provided toward the ends thereof opposite said pivot axis with notch surfaces adapted to engage the corresponding hubs of said endmost reel during upward movement of said arms to lift that reel off said bars and displace it laterally beyond said abutment members and then to carry said reel downwardly by its hubs into reception by said transfer device at said loading location during subsequent downward movement of said arms.
 4. A reel loader according to claim 3 including electrical switch means for actuating said power-operated drive means to establish predetermined p0sitions to which said loading arms are moved by said drive means.
 5. A reel loader according to claim 3 including electrical control means for operating said drive means to move said loading arms to said predetermined positions thereof in timed relation with movement of said movable reel transfer device.
 6. A reel loader according to claim 3 in which said notch surfaces have a downwardly inclined slope when said loading arms are moved upwardly to a position at which said notch surfaces are above said bars, whereby a reel supported by the engagement of its hubs with said notch surfaces in that position will roll past said abutment members.
 7. A reel loader according to claim 1 wherein said reel-feeding means comprises a pair of reel-shifting members movable respectively along corresponding ones of said bars in alignment with one another transversely of said bars.
 8. A reel loader according to claim 7 in which said bars are of hollow channellike cross section provided respectively with elongate slots extending along the upper reel hub-supporting surfaces thereof and adapted to receive downwardly projecting portions of the corresponding reel-shifting members.
 9. A reel loader according to claim 8 including power-operated drive means located within said hollow bars and connected to the downwardly projecting portions of the corresponding reel-shifting members to effect such movement of those members along said bars. 